MissionFacilitators-Empowering Leaders & Org. to Achieve Audacious Goals
•-Some political theorists (e.g., Thomas Nagel, Stanley Fish, John Rawls, Kent Greenawalt, Robert Audi, etc.) would have us to believe that religious beliefs should have no place in politics. Their premise is based on the assumption that religious beliefs are irrational. Hence, dangerous!
The question, however, is this: Are all religions beliefs irrational in the sense that they cannot be supported by reason and evidence? Although I agree that blind faith or religious dogmatism (such as “because the Bible says so”) is inappropriate in public discussion in a pluralistic society, Christian faith can be supported by rational arguments and scientifically undeniable evidences.
I do not think that religion is any threat to democratic politics; on the contrary, it has much to add to our political debates. First, to be truly democratic, we must promote fairness among all those who hold to different worldviews—religious and secular alike. But more importantly, the religious worldviews can make valuable contributions to a host of political issues.
My belief, for example, is that the Christian worldview provides a solid foundation for objective morality and for supporting many political values such as human rights, equality of all people, moral order, and civil laws which are essentially based on human conscience, which in turn was given to all people by God. Even the constitutional question, though significant, is ultimately secondary to the moral question. It is the moral issues which give the force to most of the constitutional issues. The failure to understand this relationship only weakens the constitution and, by extension, the political system.
To put it in a nutshell, politics needs religion, not freedom from religion. Religious faith is the soul of politics.
– Mazie Nakhro
Puppets of the System
•-The living conditions of people have become so vulnerable that they have been reduced to mere puppets of the system. In recent times we have seen that the people witnessed a series of crisis that are dividing humanity. The series of bomb blasts, the terrorist attacks, the attacks on minorities, suicides by cotton farmers are some of the negative impacts of the crisis that have deteriorated humanity. The hidden violent agenda by way of abortion, Euthanasia, domestic family violence too are a step towards breaking our relationships with God. The global economic crisis have suddenly broken the hopes of many workers as today they are unemployed and desperately looking for hope.
Today we need to be spiritually challenged and hope is the stepping stone towards leading to God. Though all these factors break hope to such an extent, that due to depression, many people will turn violent and go against God and many may even take measures to drown their lives in alcohol & drugs or even commit suicide.
Today we need to foster peace & reconciliation and peace does not depend on hopelessness of life but it uses it to build a staircase towards the building of the new world & new society. It encourages affected people to take this stairway of hope to foster reconciliation and helps in the reconciliation not only with the current crisis but also in the reconciliation of the self and with God. Keeping God in the centre, our hopelessness finds a way to the path of love, truth, justice & reconciliation.
We need to foster peace for reconciliation & peace comes only when an understanding that the current crisis we face is a temporary phase of God allowing us to reconcile through peace. It is a call to all these affected by the current crisis to initiate a dialogue with God through prayer to build faith and to foster peace for reconciliation. We need to keep ourselves occupied particularly during this crisis when unemployment & economic crisis are destructing the structure of living.
I feel that till this crisis is over, people should link up and network with other people and start building up their small businesses in the country and also depend on the mercy of God that will help us to overcome our weaknesses and will help us grow through this time of crisis. Let's all work to foster peace that is distorted due to various reasons and bring Christ among us in this time of crisis.
Cajetan Peter D'souza, Mumbai
The Upper Hand of the Creator
•-After the Asian Tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean on the Sunday morning of December 26, 2004, now it is techno-high Japan that faced the wrath of a massive 8.9/9.0 magnitude of quake and tsunami thereof on March 11. Just imagine the impact that it moved Japan's main island by 8 feet and also shifted the earth's axis by another 4 inches. Precious lives and properties have swept away, and the misery continues.
In praying for the country of Japan, and sharing the pain and grief at the destruction and loss of lives at the hands of nature, I also reflect on the word of God as in Psalms 102: 25-28, 82:5. Tsunami Warning Systems and sirens to monitor seismological and tidal stations could not predict the wrath of nature. Why? Because it is not the technological systems but God who controls the universe. Advancement of technology as in Japan Nuclear Plants only seems to add salt to the wound. I am in no way against constructive human advancement, but the bottom line is - the greatest magnitude of human effort can't withstand the upper hand of God. If "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God stronger than man's strength" (1 Cor. 1:25) where do we place human effort in the sight to God? Don't forget, greater earthquakes and tsunamis will happen again. Further, the sun and the moon will fail its light, the stars and the heavenly bodies will be shaken, and this earth will pass away because our Lord Jesus has already spoken this. Even an iota of God's word will not disappear until it is accomplished (Mtt. 24, 5:18). Things we don't like will ultimately come to pass, but how blessed and honour it is to be children of the Creator and Controller of the universe! God bless all the readers. Amen.
Khalenmew Yimchunger
•-Some political theorists (e.g., Thomas Nagel, Stanley Fish, John Rawls, Kent Greenawalt, Robert Audi, etc.) would have us to believe that religious beliefs should have no place in politics. Their premise is based on the assumption that religious beliefs are irrational. Hence, dangerous!
The question, however, is this: Are all religions beliefs irrational in the sense that they cannot be supported by reason and evidence? Although I agree that blind faith or religious dogmatism (such as “because the Bible says so”) is inappropriate in public discussion in a pluralistic society, Christian faith can be supported by rational arguments and scientifically undeniable evidences.
I do not think that religion is any threat to democratic politics; on the contrary, it has much to add to our political debates. First, to be truly democratic, we must promote fairness among all those who hold to different worldviews—religious and secular alike. But more importantly, the religious worldviews can make valuable contributions to a host of political issues.
My belief, for example, is that the Christian worldview provides a solid foundation for objective morality and for supporting many political values such as human rights, equality of all people, moral order, and civil laws which are essentially based on human conscience, which in turn was given to all people by God. Even the constitutional question, though significant, is ultimately secondary to the moral question. It is the moral issues which give the force to most of the constitutional issues. The failure to understand this relationship only weakens the constitution and, by extension, the political system.
To put it in a nutshell, politics needs religion, not freedom from religion. Religious faith is the soul of politics.
– Mazie Nakhro
Puppets of the System
•-The living conditions of people have become so vulnerable that they have been reduced to mere puppets of the system. In recent times we have seen that the people witnessed a series of crisis that are dividing humanity. The series of bomb blasts, the terrorist attacks, the attacks on minorities, suicides by cotton farmers are some of the negative impacts of the crisis that have deteriorated humanity. The hidden violent agenda by way of abortion, Euthanasia, domestic family violence too are a step towards breaking our relationships with God. The global economic crisis have suddenly broken the hopes of many workers as today they are unemployed and desperately looking for hope.
Today we need to be spiritually challenged and hope is the stepping stone towards leading to God. Though all these factors break hope to such an extent, that due to depression, many people will turn violent and go against God and many may even take measures to drown their lives in alcohol & drugs or even commit suicide.
Today we need to foster peace & reconciliation and peace does not depend on hopelessness of life but it uses it to build a staircase towards the building of the new world & new society. It encourages affected people to take this stairway of hope to foster reconciliation and helps in the reconciliation not only with the current crisis but also in the reconciliation of the self and with God. Keeping God in the centre, our hopelessness finds a way to the path of love, truth, justice & reconciliation.
We need to foster peace for reconciliation & peace comes only when an understanding that the current crisis we face is a temporary phase of God allowing us to reconcile through peace. It is a call to all these affected by the current crisis to initiate a dialogue with God through prayer to build faith and to foster peace for reconciliation. We need to keep ourselves occupied particularly during this crisis when unemployment & economic crisis are destructing the structure of living.
I feel that till this crisis is over, people should link up and network with other people and start building up their small businesses in the country and also depend on the mercy of God that will help us to overcome our weaknesses and will help us grow through this time of crisis. Let's all work to foster peace that is distorted due to various reasons and bring Christ among us in this time of crisis.
Cajetan Peter D'souza, Mumbai
The Upper Hand of the Creator
•-After the Asian Tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean on the Sunday morning of December 26, 2004, now it is techno-high Japan that faced the wrath of a massive 8.9/9.0 magnitude of quake and tsunami thereof on March 11. Just imagine the impact that it moved Japan's main island by 8 feet and also shifted the earth's axis by another 4 inches. Precious lives and properties have swept away, and the misery continues.
In praying for the country of Japan, and sharing the pain and grief at the destruction and loss of lives at the hands of nature, I also reflect on the word of God as in Psalms 102: 25-28, 82:5. Tsunami Warning Systems and sirens to monitor seismological and tidal stations could not predict the wrath of nature. Why? Because it is not the technological systems but God who controls the universe. Advancement of technology as in Japan Nuclear Plants only seems to add salt to the wound. I am in no way against constructive human advancement, but the bottom line is - the greatest magnitude of human effort can't withstand the upper hand of God. If "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God stronger than man's strength" (1 Cor. 1:25) where do we place human effort in the sight to God? Don't forget, greater earthquakes and tsunamis will happen again. Further, the sun and the moon will fail its light, the stars and the heavenly bodies will be shaken, and this earth will pass away because our Lord Jesus has already spoken this. Even an iota of God's word will not disappear until it is accomplished (Mtt. 24, 5:18). Things we don't like will ultimately come to pass, but how blessed and honour it is to be children of the Creator and Controller of the universe! God bless all the readers. Amen.
Khalenmew Yimchunger
